Load carrying collapsible pallet



July 6, 1965 J. 1'. MASSENGALE LOAD CARRYING COLLAPSIBLE PALLET FiledMarch 22, 1963 United States Patent.

3,192,883 LOAD CARRYING COLLAPSIBLE PALLET John T. Massengale, WestChester, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to FMC Corporation, SanJose, Caiifi, a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 22, 1963, Ser. No.267,113 2 Claims. (Cl. 108-56) This invention relates to pallets of thetype employed for supporting loads for handling by fork lift trucks.

A convenient way of transporting bulky packages and bound togethergroups of packages from one plant location to another as well as loadingand unloading the same from freight cars is by means of .a fork lifttruck. In order to permit the forwardly extending prongs or fork of thetruck to pass beneath the package preparatory to lifting the same, thepackage or bound group of packages is mounted upon a pallet, which is aflat platform supported above the floor on short legs or feet. Thepallet is usually made of \wood andeven though it enables theexpeditious use of fork lift trucks with consequent savings in labor,nevertheless the pallet itself is a noticeable item of expense. Thepackage is often strapped or otherwise secured to the pallet and thepallet travels with the pack-age from the shipper to the purchaser.Because of the cost of the pallet it is generally economically desirableto return it to the shipper even though the transportation of the emptypallet, particularly because of its bulk rather than actual weight, isitself costly. The present invention is directed to providing a palletwhich can be returned to the shipper at minimum cost.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a load-carryingpallet which is readily collapsible or capable of being dis-assembled sothat the parts thereof may be conveniently and inexpensively returned tothe shipper of the merchandise.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structural unit soarranged that a plurality of the same may be readily assembled to form aload-carrying pallet or pallet framework.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pallet which islightweight and has a resilient or yieldable loadsupporting surface.

Another object is to eliminate or facilitate pallet repair ormaintenance, inasmuch as a single damaged side piece may be repaired ormerely replaced from stock.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invent-ion will becomeapparent as the description of certain preferred embodiments thereofproceeds.

Referring now to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pallet made in accordance with thisinvention and showing in ghost outline a plurality of packages supportedthereon;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one corner of the pallet inenlarged detail;

FIG, 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the construction of oneof the structural units used in assembling the pallet and the manner inwhich said unit is associated with another similar unit; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective View showing the manner of forming thestructural units of metal.

The pallet is formed of a plurality of structural units one of which isgenerally designated at in FIG. 3. Unit 10 comprises a substantiallystraight member 11 having a floor engaging foot element 12 securedthereto adjacent one end and another floor engaging foot element 13secured adjacent the other end. In that form of the invention shown inFIGS. 1-3, the structural units are formed 3,192,883 Patented July 6, 1965 and the extended portion is chamfered at 15 to provide a doumwardlydirected sloping face. If desired, chamfer 15 may extend along theentire side of foot element 12 but preferably only encompasses the.extension 14, the dotted lines in 1 16.3 indicating the cut away portionof the foot element. Foot element !13 extends lengthwise of straightmember \11 and said foot element terminates short of the end of thestraight element and is charnfered as indicated at '16 to provide anupwardly directed face.

' The pallet is formed by assembling four structural units, 110, \17,18, and 19, into a substantiallyrectangular configuration as indicatedin FIG. 1. Unit 18 is identical in size and structure with unit 10 andunits 17 and 19 have the same construction'as unit 10 but these twounits may be of a different length than units 10 and 18 if desired.

Units 10 and 17 are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and it will be noted thatunit '17 comprises a substantially straight member 20 having a footelement 21 adjacent one end, saidfoot element being cha-mfered on theend at 22. The

charnfered end 22 of foot element 21 is similar to the chamfered end 16of foot element 13 and the slope of chamfer 22 matches the slopeofchamfer .15 of foot element 12 so that when units 110 and 17 are broughttogether at right angles the chamfered end of foot element 21 fitssnugly against the chamfered portion 15 of the extension 14 of footelement 12 and the overhanging end of the straight member 20 overliesextension 14, as shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 1, unit 17 also has afoot element 23 which is similar to the foot element 12 of unit 10.

The pallet comprises a first spaced pair of parallel structural units 10and '18 and -a second spaced pair of units 17 and 19, said units beingassembled with the elongated straight member of each unit overlying theextended foot of an adjacent unit. The structural units are held inassembled relationship by flexible ties secured about the corners of therectangular framework and in FIG. 2 one of said ties is indicated at 24.While t-ie 24 could be formed of wire, it is preferably in the form ofaflat strap, either metallic or non-metallic, tens-ioned about thecorner of the framework with the overlapping ends of the strap securedtogether by a crimped metal seal 25. The tensioned strap is preventedfrom slipping over the corner of the framework by engagement with thefoot elements of the structural units and in FIG. 2 it will be seen thatthe strap passes about the straight members 11 and 20 of the units .10and 17 respectively and is prevented from slipping by the fact that itis juxtaposed the inner ends of the foot elements 12 and 21.

As shown in FIG. 1, other and longer flexible ties 40 extend betweenopposed parallel units of the pallet framework to provide a yieldableload-supporting platform. Actually, when ties 40 are used to form thefloor of the pallet, the breakage of one or even two of the ties 24 iwill not necessarily cause a complete failure of the palof wood and thefoot elements may be secured to the straight member 11 in any suitablemanner as by means of nails, screws or glue. Foot element 12 has aportion 14 which extends beyond the end of straight member 11 ting partsoft-he structural units are sufiicient to hold the pallet together.Since the floor is an open network of crossing straps, the over-allweight of the pallet is obviously less than a pallet having a solidwooden floor. In practice, since it is often, in fact usually, desirableto secure the load to the pallet, some or all of the ties 40 can belooped about the load as well as around opposed ing a compact,light-weight package which may be shipped at minimum expense.Particularly if the flexible ties are non-metallic strapping materialsuch as shown in US. Patent No. 3,028,281, one or more of the longercross ties can conveniently be used to bundle thestructural units.Another advantage of using the strapping of Patent No. 3,028,281 ratherthan steel strapping is that the floor of the pallet is more yieldableand serves to cushion the shock if the pallet and its load areaccidentally dropped.

FIG. 4 demonstrates one way in which the structural units may be formedof metal, for example of extruded aluminum. In this figure, one end onlyof two structural units is shown, one of the units comprising a straightchannel member 26 and an extending foot element 27 also in the form of achannel one leg 28 of which slopes inwardly similar to the chamfer 15 offoot element 12. The other unit shown in FIG. 4 comprises a straightchannel member 29 which overhangs a sloping end 30 of a foot element 31.Foot elements 27 and 31 may be secured to their respective straightmembers 26 and 29 in any suitable manner as by welding, rivets, or.bolts.

FIG. 4 is only intended to illustrate one possible arrangement ofmetallic structural units and it will be understood that the variouselements or members of the units may be tubular instead ofchannel-shaped and if in the form of channels the open sides of thechannel may be arranged other than as shown.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: 1. Aload-carrying collapsible pallet comprising a plurality of structuralunits each of which comprises a substantially straight member extendingat one end beyond a first floor engaging foot element secured theretoand having secured thereto a second floor engaging foot element whichextends beyond the other end of the member, said plurality of unitsbeing assembled into a rectangular framework with the straight member ofeach unit overlying the second floor engaging foot element of anadjacent unit and flexible tie means extending about the corners of therectangular framework for holding said units in assembled relationship,said foot elements preventing said flexible tie means from slipping.

2. The pallet set forth in claim 1 having flexible members extendingbetween. those structural units which form opposed sides of therectangular framework, said flexible members forming a yieldable floorfor the pallet.

References (Zited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,098,405 6/14Reinecke 2092 2,355,336 8/44 Shafer l38151 2,372,055 3/45 Braun IDS-582,696,235 12/54 Tolfolon 108-55 X 2,739,776 3/ 56 Terando 108542,742,955 4/56 Dominguez 108-150 X FOREIGN PATENTS 5 08,05 2 10/20France.

12,776 9/24 Netherlands.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

1. A LOAD-CARRYING COLLAPSIBLE PALLET COMPRISING A PLURALITY OFSTRUCTURAL UNITS EACH OF WHICH COMPRISES A SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT MEMBEREXTENDING AT ONE END BEYOND A FIRST FLOOR ENGAGING FOOT ELEMENT SECUREDTHERETO AND HAVING SECURING THERETO A SECOND FLOOR ENGAGING FOOT ELEMENTWHICH EXTENDS BEYOND THE OTHER END OF THE MEMBER, SAID PLURALITY OFUNITS BEING ASSEMBLED INTO A RECTANGULAR FRAMEWORK WITH THE STRAIGHTMEMBER OF EACH UNIT OVERLYING THE SECOND FLOOR ENGAGING FOOT ELEMENT OFAN ADJACENT UNIT AND FLEXIBLE TIE MEANS EXTENDING ABOUT THE CORNERS OFTHE RECTANGULAR FRAMEWORK FOR HOLDING SAID UNITS IN ASSEMBLEDRELATIONSHIP, SAID FOOT ELEMENTS PREVENTING SAID FLEXIBLE TIE MEANS FROMSLIPPING.